On the K/Queue: February 2019

Great mini albums by CLC, Monsta X, NeonPunch and more

The excitement of K-pop going global continued well into February. The boy groups took note of what the girls did last month with Monsta X, NCT and BTS announcing a tour across America. (And beyond to Mexico and Brazil for Monsta X!) And the girls? IZ*ONE is promoting the hell out of Japan with the arrival of their debut Japanese single. (They snagged second on Oricon Weekly!) Blackpink was seen on Colbert Report and the front cover of Billboard. Chips Ahoy tweeted about LOONA. Americans still got to get their acts together welcoming the wave, but hopefully as the year goes on, BTS won’t be the only K-pop group the public is familiar with.

Monsta X actually dropped one of the highlight releases this month as well. Here are seven albums and mini albums worth your time, plus a round-up of the rest of February’s releases.

No. 1

CLC

CLC bends for no one in its comeback single, “No,” that’s built tough as the song’s message of self-love, and the girl group’s self-sure attitude echoes throughout its mini album. “Like It” sounds brazen as the title track. The softer cuts, too, perform sharp even if they seem to stay a bit modest.

The End of Nightmare

Dreamcatcher

While Dreamcatcher’s metal-pop style still impresses in “Piri,” their mini album continues to include interesting sketches and alternative routes. “Diamond” adapts their style to a more EDM lane, with a rap verse to boot; the other two prove they can do just fine without the genre fusion novelty.

We Are Here

Monsta X

Monsta X follows up last fall’s Are You There? with another full-length packed with more pyrotechnic pop, starting from title track “Alligator.” A bonus novelty is “Play It Cool” — a club-pop collaboration with Steve Aoki that I begrudgingly like. And the album teeters from the loud to the soft from there.

Watch Out

NeonPunch

NeonPunch adds more twists and turns for its stunning follow-up, “Tic Toc,” a title track that zigzags from warped garage to a helium-shot hook. While it takes a breather from there, the mini album still packs more dance-pop joys in the rave-piano-driven “My Friend” and slow jam “Goodbye.”

We Must Love

ONF

Though it takes off with another booming drop as their previous single, “We Must Love” works a more dynamic dance-pop production with buzzing sounds zigzagging across channels. The mini album explores more with the studio, fusing unlikely genres in “Yayaya” and warping vocals in “I Do.”

Narcissus

SF9

While SF9 once again grabs slow-burning dance-pop to express overwhelming attraction in “Enough,” the group loosens up to ride a more upbeat, stadium-ready EDM in the following batch of songs. That said, the piano-led R&B “Fall in Love” is the keeper from this mini album.

Born

TREI

For their new title track, Banana Culture’s latest boy group hands in the breezy, tender acoustic-R&B “Gravity.” It’s a warm mood they maintain throughout the mini album to fine results, but a slight stylistic detour like the colorful funk of “Lady” or the retro-soul of “Deep” certainly doesn’t hurt.

More K-pop from this month…

• Hwasa is the last one from MAMAMOO to make a solo debut with dance-pop single “Twit,” and based on the four solo singles, Hwasa occupies more of the strong-willed, vocal powerhouse role of MAMAMOO compared to the laid-back Moonbyul or the melancholy Whee-In.
• After a digital drop of a new single last month, Hyomin released the mini album Allure which includes the aforementioned “U Um U Um,” last fall’s “Mango” and the funky title track that reminds me of Suzy’s “Sober.”
• Infinite returns with “Clock” after a year since their album, Top Seed. The slow jam is an interesting choice for a comeback from a rather long absence, but if you like huge, wistful tracks, it’s a treat.
• The debut of JYP’s new girl group ITZY caused a lot of buzz this month. The “I don’t care/I love myself” attitude of “Dalla Dalla” kind of gets drowned for me when the single arrives so close in time as CLC’s own self-love anthem. I hope they prove more of the song’s “something’s different about me” lyric as they go, and I really hope they lose the surveillance camera nonsense in their future videos.
• Koyote celebrate their 20th anniversary with the album, Reborn, and the trio sing their hearts out over some Eurobeat with no shame on the title track, “Fact.” If you like Eurobeat like I do, there are a couple more keepers in the new album.

• It’s still not fully registering with me that LOONA has now officially debuted as a group rather than a project of solo singles. “Butterfly” is fine, but there’s something lost when all 12 sound the same in the song. The other songs in the attached mini album [x x] are somewhat better.
• Minseo’s coffee-shop duet “2cm” with Paul Kim, the final teaser for her upcoming Diary of Youth album, doesn’t sound as adventurous as “Is Who” or “Zero,” but my, does it charm if you’re into this kind of crush song.
• Punchnello shows off his range in his new Ordinary EP, throwing hardcore raps in one track and revealing glimpses into a softer side in another. Tracks of the latter vibe, like “Blue Hawaii” featuring Crush and PENOMECO or “Winter Blossom” with SAAY, was the one I enjoyed most.
• For those who thought Rothy’s new one last month was a great pitch for a spot on a K-drama OST, she now got an actual song for the drama series Romance Is a Bonus Book. Her title track, “Romance,” is a more bubbly acoustic-pop number that I prefer over the other single.

• Saturday follows up their debut with a single just as peppy and fun in “Wifi.” The honking, kinda meme-y sax reminds me of Momoland’s efforts from last year, but let’s not let resemblances overshadow this fine song.
• Sik-K pops pills — metaphorically, I hope — to numb the pain on the break-up bummer “Addict.” The guitar riff on the beat plays almost too catchy for this bleeding song.
• You can probably guess what kind of EDM pop that SNUPER delivers for their new Japanese single, “Weekend Secret,” based on that cliche title. It’s not too bad considering the name, and the song after it, “Where,” is worth the listen too.
• N.Flying just dropped a new song last month, but they’re already prepping a new Japanese release, “Stand by Me,” and their stadium-rock sound suits the Japanese crowd so well. And speaking of pop-rock K-pop bands sharing new music in Japanese, FTISLAND’s “God Bless You” is a monster of a single if you enjoy some guitars with your K-pop.

• “Hot, hot,” goes Taemin’s new blown-out electro-pop “Want.” The rest of his new mini album serves fine pop over slick dance beats, but honestly, I wanted to tell you more exciting things about it than that “Taemin serves fine pop over slick dance beats.”
• Thank you, the fans in the comment section, for clearing up Uk as 24K’s Jeonguk because Google was not helpful for anything other than giving me unrelated results for U.K. rap. Anyway, his new rap track, “What U Want,” was a welcome introduction to his solo music for me.
• Yukika becomes a Japanese kayokyoku star in the ’80s quite literally in her debut single “Neon.” (A description from the poster featured in the music video: “1989: Today’s idol, Yukika Terashima — ‘Neon.’”) Fittingly, it’s a retro-pop song nostalgic for the Bubble era.
• Z-Pop Dream’s new groups Z-Boys and Z-Girls debuted with “No Limit” and “What You Waiting For,” respectively. The big thing about them seems to be the multi-ethnic background of their lineups. As for the music, they both do the job of a debut by introducing themselves loudly.